Maintaining Nutrition When on theMediterranean Diet
It all starts today. Improving your health means every bite you take counts. Each
good and each bad bite has an effect on you—whether small or big. Getting in
control is the most important step.
That said, with everything being an open buffet within this diet, you might be
wondering if it‘ll actually help. This isn‘t done through restricting yourself from
food, but strategically choosing what you eat.
In the simplest terms, we start with a pyramid whose base is the most essential
and daily things you need. As you move on to the top, the less frequently you
need to feed your body that particular food item.
This base would typically start with some physical activity through exercise. You
can take your pick, but having a healthy amount of activity is required to achieve
any kind of health level. Next, it‘s advisable to have items any of the following
items on a daily bases:
whole grain
pasta
rice
couscous
potatoes
barley
It‘s also recommended to have around 8 portions of fruits. Incorporate beans,
legumes or nuts. And add in a whole lot of vegetables into the mix. Additionally,
cheese, yogurt and milk can be taken daily as well. Be generous with your olive
oil.
Next we have a few items which should be taken weekly. They‘re good for you,
but taking them in large quantities isn‘t healthy and that overdose will lead to
things you‘re trying to avoid. Again, you‘re not exactly being very strict with
these, you‘re just making sure you include them once a week. These foods
include:
Fish
Poultry
Eggs
Sweets
Meats are the only thing in your diet which should be consumed weekly only.
They‘re good for you but you‘re getting your proteins through other means so
there‘s nothing to really worry about.
Lastly, wine can be drunk in moderation. As mentioned, typically a glass a day
works well.
With all this mentioned, you might be wondering how much should you be
having of all this? The nutritional value of these types of foods should be the same
as you‘re generally recommended to follow. That includes:
Nutrient
Quantity Per Day
Energy, kJ
8,700 kilojoules
Energy, kCal
2100 Kcal
Protein
50 grams
Fat
70 grams
Carbohydrates
310 grams
Sugars
90 grams
Sodium (salt)
2.3 grams
Dietary Fiber
30 grams
Saturated Fatty Acids
24 grams
This should be your base; i.e. don‘t attempt to hit below this level. Instead this is
your minimum range to consume per day. As for minerals, vitamins and all that
jazz, this is what your daily goal should look like:
Vitamins & M inerals
Quantities Per Day
Biotin (B-complex)
30 µg
Folate (B-complex)
400 µg
Vitamin A
600 µg
Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
1,4 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
1,6 mg
Vitamin B3 (niacin)
18 mg
Vitamin B5 (patothenic acid)
6 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
2 mg
Vitamin B12 (cobalamine)
6 µg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
75 mg
Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)
5 µg
Vitamin E (tocopherol)
10 mg
Vitamin K
80 µg
Boron
< 20 mg
Calcium
1000 mg
Chlorine
3400 mg
Chromium
120 µg
Copper
2 mg
Fluorine
3,5 mg
Iodine
150 µg
Iron
15 mg
Magnesium
350 mg
Manganese
5 mg
Molybdenum
75 µg
Nickel
< 1 mg
Phosphorus
1000 mg
Potassium
3500 mg
Selenium
35 µg
Sodium
2400 mg
Vanadium
< 1,8 mg
Zinc
15 mg
NOTE: The amount of kCal, vitamins, minerals, etc, are strongly dependent on
your weight, age, and gender. Please consolidate a more advanced tool to
determine your optimal intake of calories, vitamins, and minerals.
If you‘re looking to pursue a weight loss goal with this diet, it‘ll take you a little
more. You see, our body requires a certain amount of calories in order to stay
healthy and keep us fit, if we‘re eating more than that share, those calories are
stored as fat in our body. A small candy bar can equal a bowl of green-y veggies,
so we have to be careful about what we eat. Calories aren‘t only important in that
way. In fact, when we want to lose weight, we‘re actually looking to burn calories.
Calories are burnt through exercising or naturally used by your body. Hence if
you‘re looking to lose weight, counting calories is a highly effective method to
use. In many cases, this is our first step towards a healthier, fitter life.
Don‘t know where to start? You can give My Fitness Pal—a fitness website,
calorie counter, fitness tracker, community and smartphone app. This nifty little
app has the power to help you keep on track with your diet, keep on track of your
daily calories and even nutritional values, to ensure you get healthy amounts of
food every day. Give this free app a try if you‘re starting out with this diet.
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